A View From The Hook

Thursday, January 4, 2018

WHY IS THERE NO MONITORING NOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE USE OF SHORE POWER AT THE BROOKLYN CRUISE TERMINAL?

If you've been following me on twitter - @viewfromthehook - you'll know that the NYCEDC has been making excuses all through the 2017 season about why cruise ships have not been plugging-in to Red Hook's multi-million dollar, zero-emissions shore power system.

EDC have been telling the public that one ship, the Queen Mary 2, has had "difficulty" plugging-in to shore power (despite the ship successfully connecting to shore power in Halifax and elsewhere). But the EDC also claimed that Princess ships have been connecting to shore power, for the most part, throughout the season. That is just not based in fact. As far as this blog can ascertain, the Princess ships have only plugged-in a handful of times (perhaps only 2 or 3), once on October 26th, coinciding with a press event that included an announcement of the expansion of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal when Borough President Eric Adams was present. This is actually the only time I can be certain that a ship plugged in. Justine Johnson at the EDC confirmed the connection of the ship to shore power in writing to me and I was also able to take a trip on the ferry and view the shore power apparatus (davit, cables, etc.) in place and connected to the ship, and there were zero emissions visible from the funnels. The only other day a ship was stated to be plugged-in (by NYC Council Member Carlos Menchaca and others) was on May 31st, the day the NYC Ferry landing was launched, when the Queen Mary 2 was in port. On that day, Mayor de Blasio and other dignitaries were present. However, there was no confirmation of this connection by EDC.Every other time I was able to check in on a ship docked at the terminal, throughout the season, it was clear that the ship was not plugged-in to shore power. I was able to both see fumes from the funnels, and many times I took the ferry around the stern of the ship and could see the shore power apparatus was not in place and the cables were not connected to the ship. I could literally see the cables dangling in the wind. This is what I witnessed with the Princess ships too, which the EDC was telling the public had been connecting to the shore power system. As I said, the EDC has not been truthful.

I called City Councilmember Carlos Menchaca one day when a ship was in port and idling, (I can see the funnels from my back yard), and he told me that EDC had not been able to confirm to him that ships were plugging in - they were telling him one thing and the public another. Carlos said that he was frustrated that there was no mechanism to either confirm nor enforce the use of shore power at the terminal. This seems crazy. He did say that he was working on some action that would create an enforcement mechanism, but I'm not sure what that would be and when it would happen.

We need to hold to account the EDC, Carlos Menchaca, and all involved, regarding what is happening here. The new operators of the cruise terminal - Ports America - according to press releases by EDC and statements by Carlos Menchaca, have committed to "zero emissions operations" at the cruise terminal. Ports America took over operations at the cruise terminal at the beginning of the season, and clearly that commitment has not been honored.

With the announcement, on Oct 26th, of the largest cruise ships - 6000+ passengers - coming to our neighborhood in the next few years, we have to ensure that the promises - and the 2011 formal agreement - made by the City, the NYCEDC, Carnival Cruise (who own Princess and Cunard), Ports America and our representatives are honored, the tens of millions of dollars of investments that have been made to build the zero emissions shore power system capitalized on, and the benefits to our community (less pollution and better health) realized. Otherwise, all we'll see is more pollution, more congestion, and zero benefit for Red Hook.

Last point - and a bit of background. When I first started paying attention to this matter over a decade ago - attending Port Authority, EDC meetings - it was always clear that there was a long term goal to expand the cruise terminal in Red Hook. The Port Authority were talking about building another terminal on Pier 10, and more. To me, this was extra incentive to get the shore power infrastructure built, so even if we did get more cruise ships, or bigger ships, at least we wouldn't get more pollution.

That was the whole point of advocating for shore power in the first place.

Now, in 2018, we need monitoring and enforcement of the use or shore power so the benefits of this zero-emissions technology can be finally realized.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

The photo from first blog post in April 2009.
My two kids are on bikes, second from left and second from right.
They are now 13 and 19.

You might have read articles in the local media and elsewhere regarding the press release (here) from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) stating that 'shore power' is finally operational and in use at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. As readers of this blog know, shore power is a technology that lets ships "plug in" to the electricity grid while in port, allowing them to turn off their dirty diesel engines (this is called 'cold ironing'), rather than idling 24/7, as they have been. This is the first shore power berth on the entire U.S. East Coast.

Thanks to those of you who have sent me messages of congratulations for my part in raising awareness and advocating for this technology. I've been working for this result for over a decade since the Cruise Terminal opened at the bottom of our residential street in Red Hook. In April, 2009 - in an effort to further advocate for shore power and raise awareness of port and shipping pollution related issues in Red Hook, NYC and beyond - I started this blog, "A View From The Hook". In 2012, Friends of the Earth named me as one of their "Faces of Change" for these efforts. I was one of 7 individuals or organizations recognized that year for their environmental activism.

So this is a great achievement, right? Unfortunately, despite the press release stating that the use of this technology will “eliminate 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide, 95 tons of nitrous oxide, and 6.5 tons of particulate matter annually" (and that the) "health benefits associated with improved air quality will generate approximately $99 million in cumulative savings over 15 years”, there is no event planned to celebrate shore power coming on line in Red Hook,

I guess the Port Authority and the NYCEDC don't want to make too big a deal of this technology and its health and environmental benefits, because if more residents knew, they would be demanding (as I have here and elsewhere) that shore power be used throughout our city and region's ports, for all types of large oceangoing ships - cruise and container ships too, which also idle in port, burning dirty diesel, emitting dangerous and climate change-inducing emissions. The truth is that ports on the West Coast - including the two largest in the U.S., the Ports of Long Beach and L.A. - have been building shore power infrastructure for a decade for cruise and container ships, as well as implementing other port pollution reduction measures, such as clean truck programs. In comparison, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have been laggards when it comes to reducing port pollution at our nation's third largest port complex.

On a personal note, it would have also been nice for the EDC and the Port Authority to acknowledge my efforts - a decade worth of activism and advocacy for no personal gain- which was often lonely, thankless work, with no-one seemingly interested in the beginning. From the time I started writing letters to the City and to my neighbors about this issue in 2005, it was many years of research, writing, blogging, shouting into the abyss, going to meetings, and slowly building community awareness. I was joined by a few others who were on-board early with this fight who should also be acknowledged. My old friend, Diana Schneider,from Columbia Street Waterfront District, who for many years had been going to local meetings, demanding action on port pollution. Sherri Harden, from the Red Hook Initiative, who has been an early and staunch advocate for shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and the health benefits it would bring to our already pollution-burdened community. Finally, when progress was stalling, our representatives started to really get on board and demand this technology be put into use at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. That made a difference. I think people in power finally realized that this plan was a "no-brainer" and that the health and environmental benefits (as is now stated in the EDC's press release) would be pretty impressive.

To reiterate:

The use of shore power by cruise ships at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (will) … “eliminate 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide, 95 tons of nitrous oxide, and 6.5 tons of particulate matter annually. The health benefits associated with improved air quality will generate approximately $99 million in cumulative savings over 15 years.”

It's a disappointment that those (including our representatives) whose efforts ultimately helped to bring these benefits to our neighborhood and beyond aren't being recognized as part of an event marking this achievement - the much anticipated use of shore power use at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. Wouldn't the fact this technology has finally come on line be something that should be celebrated, as happened in San Diego in 2010 when the "switch was flipped" on their shore power infrastructure? I guess not.

That absence of celebration and acknowledgment makes this victory a little less sweet.

Friday, April 22, 2016

As you can see, this blog has been dormant for a while. I'm not shutting it down. You never know when important information might need to be shared in detail - using more than 140 characters! But for now, there won't be many updates here.

Which leads me to remind you, much of the information I have been sharing and news on matters that have been covered in this blog since 2009, I also share via Twitter. Many of the articles and writings I "tweet" pertain to the important issues impacting our New York City neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, and beyond - shipping & port pollution, resilience, transportation, waterfront issues, development, climate.

So, if you're interested, please follow @viewfromthehook

UPDATE: STILL WAITING FOR SHORE POWER

I guess I should also update you on one of the issues that really kicked off this blog - the cruise ships that idle at the edge of our waterfront neighborhood, spewing dirty diesel emissions into our air and into our kids lungs while they're in port. Well, they're still idling!

Despite the "shore power" infrastructure we all fought long and hard for being ready, according to the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and the ships that visit the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal also ready, retrofitted and able to accept the electricity so they can turn off their dirty diesel engines while in port, the latest information is that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has not fully tested and certified the shore power equipment so that the ships can finally plug in.

In September, 2015, we were told that this "testing" was going to take place asap. We had previously been told that the shore power infrastructure would be ready for the 2015 cruise season. And now it's April, the 2016 cruise season is upon us, and we're still waiting.

This is just unacceptable.

It was the PANYNJ that presented information to the Public Service Commission in January, 2010, stating that plugging in cruise ships to shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, allowing the ships to turn off their engines while in port, would save Brooklyn residents a monetized amount approaching $9 Million per year in health costs. $9M per year!We have been waiting a decade - since 2006 when the terminal was built - for the Port Authority to do the right thing at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. It's been 10 years of kids in Red Hook and beyond breathing in Particulate Matter (2.5), which has been linked to more and more harmful health effects, especially to children. Asthma, heart disease, cancer, autism, premature birth, and the list goes on. There have also been recent studies showing that when ships use low sulphur diesel (even though this "clean" diesel is still 1000s of times dirtier than the type trucks can legally use), the burning of that diesel actually creates more of this harmful Particulate Matter. So "clean diesel" is no solution at all. It's also been 10 years of the ships at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal spewing climate change inducing CO2, NOx, SOx, Black Carbon, etc., and burning hundreds of gallons of fossil-fuel diesel per hour - continuously while in port!

I don't know why the Port Authority has such a cavalier attitude towards portside communities and their quality of life, especially neighborhoods like Red Hook which has high rates of asthma and many environmentally impacted residents. Is the health of our kids not important enough for those in charge at the Port Authority to get this shore power infrastructure up and running - asap? The fact is, over the last decade the Port Authority has not been in a rush to implement green port practices. Even when the Brooklyn shore power system does get up and running, it will be the first such berth in the whole of the Ports of New York and New Jersey. Every single other ship in this great port city will be idling in port, burning dirty diesel, warming the planet and spewing all these harmful toxins into the air and into portside communities. While the largest ports in the U.S. on the West Coast have moved aggressively forward with shore power (for cruise and container ships), clean trucks programs, and other green port practices, here on the East Coast - at the Ports of NY and NJ, the third largest port complex in the country - we've been stuck in neutral, still idling.

The Port Authority really needs to start doing the right thing - by our kids and by the planet.

How about starting with getting the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal shore power up and running - like yesterday?

NOTE: If you are interested in issues pertaining to clean ports, shipping and transportation, please do follow Moving Forward Network. They have been doing great work on these matters and have an ongoing campaign to reduce the dependence on diesel in our transportation and goods movement sector. It's called #ZeroEmissionsNow

Saturday, September 27, 2014

On the Day 400,000 New Yorkers and many more around the world took to the streets in the "People's Climate March" demanding our leaders take urgent action to address climate change, the German TV show, "Weltspeigel" on the German public television channel ARD, was airing its story about cruise ship pollution. The introduction of the story noted the irony that only a few miles from the United Nations, where the International Climate Summit was being held and the topic of greenhouse emissions and air pollution was being discussed, some of the biggest polluters in the world were moored - cruise ships.

The piece went on to detail much of the information that this blog has covered over the last 5 years, and specifically related the story of our community - Red Hook, Brooklyn - which has been fighting since 2006 (when the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal opened at the edge of our dense residential neighborhood) to establish the practice of "cold ironing" for the visiting cruise ships. Cold ironing refers to the use of "shore power" - where the ships plug-in to the city's electric power grid so that these huge, dirty, diesel-guzzling behemoths of the sea can switch off their fossil fuel burning engines while docked at port. This practice eliminates the production of all of the harmful emission that the ships' idling engines and the burning of those dirty fuels produce - soot or PM (particulate matter), SOx, NOx, and of course CO2. Among this list of substances are known carcinogens, particles that induce asthma, heart disease, premature mortality, especially to our most vulnerable - kids, people with lung disease, the elderly, minority and low-income communities - and, of course, the list includes the gases which are the major contributors to climate change.

The German TV story notes that the Red Hook Cruise terminal is on the way to becoming the first terminal on the East Coast of the US to have this pollution-reducing and life-saving technology in place. But, it also notes that the cruise ship industry has been a reluctant partner in this process, and Carnival, who operates the ships that visit Brooklyn (and 1/2 of the international cruise ship industry), needed to be enticed to use the clean "shore power" by being offered a tax-payer subsidized rate of electricity. This incentive was required despite the ships already having many tax advantages (as cruise industry expert and critic, Prof. Ross Klein mentions in the piece, Carnival is only paying 1% taxes in the US), the industry as a whole making record-breaking profits, and also despite the Port Authority of NY and NJ stating in public testimony that the use of shore power at the terminal would lift an estimated $9 Million health burden from the shoulders of Brooklynites, especially Red Hook's residents, who were already suffering from staggering asthma rates, particularly in our children.

Below is a link to the German TV story. If you click the transcript (in German) and view it through a "Google Chrome" browser you will have an option to have the text translated. I have pasted a copy of that translation at the bottom of this post. This is hopefully helpful to the English speaker, though the translation is a little hard to decipher at times.

On a personal note, I'm happy that my work on this blog has been recognized in this story. As someone who has been fighting this fight for years, sometimes seemingly shouting into a vacuum, it's great to get some international coverage of the issues that we have covered here on A View From The Hook. I thank the people at ARD for making such a great program about the issue. The only disappointment is that, even now, there is so, so little coverage of these issues in our local media - from local blogs, newspapers, TV, all the way up to the NY Times - the absence of coverage is confounding. Port pollution, the pollution that ships of all types create, the burning of astronomical quantities of fossil fuels - some of the most dirty fuel on the planet - the environmental and labor issues, the negative health impacts to our port-side communities, all of that stuff - it's hardly, if ever, mentioned in the media. And that's in the city that is home to the 3rd largest port complex in the country. Our new mayor, Bill DeBlasio, to whom I talked personally about the issue of port and ship pollution before he was elected - someone who at that time said he would pay this issue the close attention it deserves - has so far said and done close to nothing. All these recent announcements from the Mayor and the City about greenhouse gas reductions, and improving the health of New Yorkers, and all of that - it's great stuff! - but, in all those announcements, barely a syllable about the maritime industry's role in reducing pollution, limiting the production of greenhouse gasses and the need to decrease our reliance on the burning of fossil fuels. It's shameful, and the silence on this issue really needs to end.

Next week will be discussed at the UN climate summit in New York special on the reduction of greenhouse gases. Only a few kilometers from the UN moored daily cruise ships from around the world. These floating hotels, critics say, are among the largest polluters in the world, because the giants produced as much exhaust as 13,000 cars.

Most ships burn residual oil and that goes ashore as hazardous waste. Even at the dock in the metropolis of New York smoke more the chimneys. The district Red Hook holds a sad record. A quarter of the population suffers from asthma. The cruise company whose business is booming, do rather difficult to invest in environmentally friendly technologies.Hazy Morning - The Queen Mary runs a. Traumschiff- dream trip. Once gliding past the Statue of Liberty in Manhattan. It is a special day - exactly 10 years ago, the luxury liner made its maiden voyage across the Atlantic exactly here. Subtle sounds in the lobby - deep in the belly of the Queen Mary - the guests are personally welcomed individually. The boss is mitgereist prepares his keynote speech. His business is booming - especially in Germany:

"New York is for us very important market, but here we are a year 1 billion to - and the Germans are our dear customers. Because they bring us the greatest growth rates "

He has the cruise manager of the Queen Mary in Sight - Prof. Ross Klein. He is considered the best-informed critics of the industry. How much contribute cruise ships to air pollution - it he points out again and again. "A cruise ship like the Queen Mary produces as much exhaust as 13,000 cars. For years, there are techniques to prevent this, but they cost money and reduce profits in the industry. "

Exhaust as 13,000 cars exhaust as 13,000 cars

On all oceans, the same image. Burnt is often residual oil on land would be special - these ships are among the largest polluters in the world - still. The German Aida fleet, the Queen Mary (are) now the American company Carnival. It controls more than half of the world market.

The chimneys of the Queen Mary smoke continued even after she has created. Exhaust gases of diesel-powered generators to produce electricity on board. The ship anchored in Redhook Brooklyn - Here especially, many children are suffering from asthma. The district holds a sad record. The City of New York indicates that in Redhook quarter of the residents has asthma - which is remarkably high. Asthma can be many reasons to have: air pollution is one of them: The severe asthma cases in his neighborhood drive Adam Armstrong for many years. He wrote to the mayor, and asked why, vessels moored right in front of his door and further pollute the air? "Because here, children die from asthma, I do not imagine that this is our reality. Since we must do everything possible to improve the air quality "

Even after applying the chimneys smoke more Even after applying the chimneys smoke more

Redhook - not exactly the best New York area. Many poor people in public housing live here as the family Geddie. Also Equasha Geddie has asthma. She performs in front of us, as she prepares for an attack und'zeigt us their inhaler - their life insurance. For her little brother Cee Deshawn any help came too late. 4 years ago was because the doctors could only find his death. The mother Kisha had brought him to the hospital: diagnosis: cardiac arrest after an asthma attack. "Now I do not cry as much as before, I got it stuck in my heart and I know he is in heaven now, and he's fine. But I think the strong air pollution here still impaired in our neighborhood respiration of many children. "

There are already technical solutions - such as here in Oslo to supply ships from shore power, so that they do not pollute the air at least at the pier. Why were so forget a facility in New York in the new construction of the pier in Redhook, asks Adam Armstrong in 2006, the city of New York? What followed was a year-long tug of war between residents, the city and the company Carnival, a haggle, who has to pay for the expensive equipment.

Now, finally, is built on the pier. The huge current -Transformers are already. The city advertises now even so that the system will greatly improve the air in Redhook and environment. Health care costs would decrease by $ 9,000,000 per year. But can be passed to finally power `s ship, go 1 to 2 years into the country. The leads - are still in Rohbau.'Das company Carnival only a small part of the total cost will take over. "The city, so we taxpayers subsidize the whole thing. Carnival had threatened not to use the system when the power will not be cheaper for them. "

The Queen Mary is thus still some time mess up the environment - many tourists have no idea what environmental impact it there with their tickets abet. The international regulations are lax, soot filters on board, Bestromungsanlagen ashore (Shore Power) - all voluntary.

"We all need to protect the environment and reduce the emission of toxic particles: the reporter asked:" And you have built here on the ship already filter? "This should happen in a little over a year. As long as we still want to burn marine diesel "skimp when environmental protection and to bring in huge profits -. Reality is the market leader Carnival. By the way: In these profits, the Group pays Steuern- just totally legal around the 1 percent: "It's a scandal: there is no other industry in the world, which may so unimpeded avoid taxes. The companies use the services of various government agencies such as the Coast Guard, but they pay almost no taxes. "For 10 years, the Queen Mary crossed the oceans, the clean image of the industry has thick black spots.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Since the announcement in April, 2011 that the DEAL WAS DONE to create the first shore power berth on the U.S. East Coast at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (BCT), it has been a slow, long wait for the Red Hook community wanting to see some physical proof that this plan was actually happening.

Well, it is happening - though there have been a couple of "speed bumps" along the way.

The change in the leadership of the Port Authority was one. In October, 2011, Chris Ward - a strong supporter of the shore power plan - announced he was leaving his Executive Directorship role at the PA and Pat Foye was coming in. After that change of leadership, the Port Authority started baulking at an extra $4.3 Million that was going to be required to get this plan up and running.

See this, from a post on this blog in March, 2012 -

"A few weeks back, there was the troubling news that that the Port Authority was balking at the revised cost of creating the shore power infrastructure at the terminal. They had okayed the original investment, but were questioning the extra amount that would be required.

How much were we talking about here? According to this Brooklyn Eagle story (here), the shortfall was $4.3 Million.

When the Port Authority has already made statements saying that this plan would save Brooklyn residents $9 Million per year - let me say that again - PER YEAR - in health costs. When those health costs include, as stated by the EPA and many others, asthma, cancer, premature death, lung and heart disease. When those who disproportionately bear this burden are our most vulnerable - our children (Red Hook's kids already have 40% asthma rates), the elderly, minority and low-income communities. Why is this even a question?

Yes, the Port Authority is having budget problems, but on that matter they're talking about numbers in the billions of dollars. So to quibble over this relatively small amount, when the savings are so obvious and precious (we're talking about our kids here) - and knowing that the added investment pays for itself in 6 months - it seems very short sighted to be delaying this plan."

Well, in June, 2012, the people at the Port Authority finally came to their senses and gave their approval to the extra funding (story here). The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal shore power plan was a go!

Then came Superstorm Sandy.

The storm and the damaging flooding that inundated our neighborhood in October, 2012 threw a wrench in the works of everything that was happening in Red Hook. The shore power plan was no exception. With the new reality of potential flooding, threats to infrastructure, housing, economic activity and more on everyone's mind, there was a lot to consider. The entire future of Red Hook seemed uncertain.

Many people asked in the last year or so, "Is the shore power plan happening?". "When is it happening?". We asked representatives of our elected officials for answers. The replies we received were all assurances that this plan was going ahead, despite the delays. But, people were still asking, "Where is the evidence?"

Then Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez got involved. A letter was sent from her office to the Port Authority asking for an update on the progress. Their response came in May, 2013, in the way of a letter to Congresswoman Velázquez, (and CCd to many of our other representatives), stating that the Port Authority was announcing it was ready to "initiate the construction and installation of Shore Power Technology at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook". They stated that the infrastructure would be ready "no later than the 2015 cruise ship season." View the entire letter here.

Well that was good news, but - again - where was the evidence?

Well last month, with Red Hook's future and resiliency looking better than ever, with new energy filling the neighborhood and an even greater sense of community involvement evident to all, the proof came that the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal shore power plan was truly happening.

Infrastructure!

These pieces of electrical infrastructure appeared on the cruise terminal site. The Red Hook Star Review posted a simple tweet on April 19th - "Shore power" - followed by a group of photos taken during a walk around the neighborhood, within which were photos of theses three pieces of "technology", for want of a better word that had been recently placed on the cruise terminal site. "A View From The Hook" took a look as well. They look like transformers, but we haven't been able to find out exactly what the correct description of these items are, but they are obviously being installed as part of the coming shore power infrastructure. The Red Hook Star Review was right -

Now we have it. The physical evidence that the shore power infrastructure is being built and on its way to being completed, with the promise of it being put into service "no later than the 2015 cruise season", as the Port Authority has stated.

This is great news for our community. Finally, the cruise ships will be "plugging in" to the electric grid and will be able to stop idling their dirty diesel engines while in port at the edge of our dense residential neighborhoods. We'll all look forward to enjoying the improvements in air quality; the removal of the carcinogenic and asthma inducing substances that are emitted from those idling engines; improvements in the health of our children and the most vulnerable among us who are disproportionately affected by those pollutants; reduction in the burning of greenhouse gas creating fuels; and so many more benefits - both economic and environmental - that have been articulated in this blog over the last five years.

We can now all believe it.

In 2015, the Queen Mary II and other visiting cruise ships will finally be kicking their smoking habit, and the people of Red Hook and beyond will be breathing a little easier.

(5/5/14 - This post was edited for clarity and typos - I don't have an editor, people!)

Friday, May 2, 2014

On Wednesday, April 23rd Gita Nandan and Danelle Johnson and several other members of the Red Hook Committee of Governor Cuomo’s NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program attended the final Conference in Albany, NY. While there, they presented two of Red Hook’s resiliency projects at the conference, and stole the show. Speaking to hundreds of attendees, representing 50 NYRCR Communities across New York State, Gita and Danelle shared Red Hook’s unique challenges and strengths, highlighting innovative approaches to improving the resiliency of the Red Hook Houses. Their presentation is in Part 2 of the conference videos here.

With the first phase of the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program coming to an end, the Red Hook Planning Committee will be holding a final community engagement event to share with the community the contents of the Final Red Hook NYRCR Community Reconstruction Plan, the recommendations, and to discuss next steps for implementation. An Executive Summary of this Plan is attached. Details on the final public engagement are below and some background information follows.

Only a few months of planning remain in the Red Hook NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program and the Committee is excited to engage the Red Hook community in the critical final phase of the program. The upcoming public meeting will be an important opportunity to gather community input on the top Priority Projects that may be recommended for funding with Red Hook’s $3M CDBG-DR allocation. We encourage everyone to attend this event and have your voice heard. At this event the Red Hook Committee will share ideas that its members have heard from you to date and answer questions you may have about the program and possible resiliency projects. Details for the event are on the attached flyer and as follows:

Experts will be on hand to discuss specific topics on Saturday and Sunday at the following times:

We also have a few newsworthy pieces from the past few months to share:

The Committee held its 11th meeting on Monday, February 10th in which we discussed benefits, feasibility, and considerations of possible priority resiliency projects.

Youth from the Red Hook Initiative/South Brooklyn Community High School film production program completed a video documenting the November 19th Public Engagement at the Miccio Center. This will be featured at the public meeting as well.

On December 18th, the Red Hook Planning Committee partnered with Good Shepherd’s Services at the Beacon Center to engage teens in the NY Rising program. At this event, teens brainstormed with planners and Committee representatives about resiliency challenges and solutions for Red Hook.

The Committee applauds the incredible news from Governor Cuomo’s Office of a $200M New York City & New York State combined commitment for the development of an integrated flood protection system in Red Hook. This announcement provides great momentum to our work and is proof that Red Hook can and will become a more resilient community.

We hope to see everyone at the upcoming public event.

As always, thank you for your continued engagement in the Red Hook NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program.

Chris Ward, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey : "We estimate that the annualhealth benefits emissions reductions arising from a switch from on board generation to shore power at the BCT (Brooklyn Cruise Terminal), adjusted for Kings County, approaches $9 Million" (full statement here)

Plugging a container ship in to shore-power "takes enough pollution out of the air to equal 33,000 cars” - Mayor Bob Foster

Ships are “floating smokestacks that deliver soot and smog straight into the heart of our most crowded coastal cities” - Environmental Defense Fund

From our own Federal Government - via the Environmental Protection Agency - the E.P.A.

a. Shore power is a crucial step for cleaning our air and improving health of New Yorkers.

b. Ocean going vessels that dock in New York City typically burn high sulfur fuel in diesel engines to generate auxiliary power.

This combustion results in exhaust containing NOx, SOx and particulates and such exhaust is a likely carcinogen.

A Port Authority study shows that use of shore power at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal would annually eliminate 100 tons of NOx, 100 tons of SOx and 6 tons of particulates

c. New York City air quality is among the worst in the nation and port related emissions are meaningful and avoidable."

d. Such air emissions are harmful to the pubic generally, and especially to our children, the elderly, people with lung disease, those who exercise outside, and low-income and minority communities located near ports.

e. Implementation of a shore power tariff is consistent with economic development in New York City.

f. Implementation of an appropriate Shore Power Tariff in New York City would provide an impetus for ship owners to invest in ship-side Shore Power equipment and for widespread use of this technology in other ports on the East Coast.

g. None of the Company's tariff's accurately account for the unique service characteristics of ships that dock in New York City.

h. A high-rate setting working group charged with delivering a shore power recommendation should be convened quickly.